Road to the Promised Land
by Calzer Dan
Summary: After his last confrontation with Cloud, Sephiroth found himself in a place he never imagined existed... the Blind Eternities. Now realising that he no longer needs to use Gaia as a vessel, he abandons his old world, will he return? Post-Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus
1. Prologue

Jace gazes around himself at the swirling eddies, currents, waves of Mana and Aether that composed the Blind Eternities. He looked around himself, he had never traveled to this portion of the Eternities. He looks to his companion, a ghostly surrounds the tall man. His silver hair falls down his back and a parted fringe encircles his soft, elegant features.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Jace asks.

"Yes, Gaia is not to far now," he responds.

_That's really reassuring, given that distance means nothing in the Eternities,_ Jace thinks sardonically to himself.

A huge grey mass appears a little further on, Jace hopes that this is where their journey ends.

"That's it," his companion says. Jace always feels a little jumpy at his companion's apparent lack of emotion in his voice. They continue onwards in silence and when they reach the grey veil that separates this plane from the Blind Eternities they both pull it apart and enter Gaia.

They both appear in a flash of light in a forest well away from prying eyes. "Sephiroth, where are we?"

"I don't recognise these forests," Jace's companion says while letting his eyes dart around their surrounds. "The Lifestream must be restoring the world from the damage down by the Mako Reactors." Sephiroth had informed Jace of the damage that had been wreaked by Mako technology. "Take my hand." Sephiroth offers one to Jace. Since there are no large bodies of water or islands, Jace can't restore the Mana lost in the journey. Instead Sephiroth will channel it through the Lifestream, some kind of energy current that flows through this planet, but one that holds vast reserves of all five mana colours, bound together by Aether.

Jace feels his strength returning as Blue Mana is channeled through his hand. Sephiroth also draws Mana, but his preference is for White, Blue and Black. Once they both feel thoroughly refreshed and reinvigorated, Sephiroth teleports them both away.

The pair appear in the back alley in a city, of a kind that Jace has never seen before…

Buildings still rise into the sky, like they do on Ravnica, if nowhere near as high, but they are made out of some unidentifiable material and glass for the most part, and strange contraptions bear a slight resemblance to horse-drawn carriages, without the horses, and they make thrumming or growling noises. And there was far more of them than the carriages Jace is familiar with back on Ravnica, or any other plane he's been to.

"Welcome to Midgar," Sephiroth says to him.

Jace began channelling the Mana required when—

"SEPHIROTH!"

"Hello Cloud," Sephiroth says over his shoulder as he turns. "Nice to see you."

_What sort of name is Cloud? _Jace wonders to himself briefly.

"What are you doing here?!" Could asks while drawing a horrifically huge two-handed blade from some sort of vehicle.

Sephiroth places his hand on his own blade, Masamune, "I'm not here to fight. My companion is curious about the nature of the Lifestream and wants to study it."

"Cloud, what's going on?" A young woman says as she bursts out from a large open door beside Cloud, whom simply nods in Jace's direction.

"Hello, Tifa," Sephiroth says sweetly. "How's Denzel?"

Tifa goes to say something, but Cloud interrupts her, "I want you to get Denzel out of here, and call the other's, in case this goes south."

Tifa sighs, "I think Sephiroth isn't here to cause trouble, Cloud."

"She's astute, Cloud," Sephiroth says to Cloud.

"What do you mean?"

Spehiroth's shoulders slump a little, "You did tell him what happened when you disappeared for two months?"

"Of course I did," Tifa says calmly.

Cloud then roles his eyes, "Oh yeah..."

"Don't worry, Cloud, I would do the same in your shoes," Sephiroth says as reassuringly as he can. "Anyway, I have other things to do, and places to be, Tifa can I entrust Jace's care to you?"

"Sure, of course!"

"Thank you, I'll see you around, Cloud."

"Bye," Cloud responds curtly. Sephiroth then teleports away...


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Prologue takes place some time after Sephiroth ascends**

(Sephiroth POV)

I gaze around the wastes surrounding Midgard, smiling contently at my new body and power, it seems Shinra never learns, ever. Since all traces of Mother's existence have been wiped away, and Shinra are trying to corner the burgeoning oil market, they want a new fore of supersoldiers, to replace the dwindling SOLDIER Program. My eyes fall on the old Shinra HQ where I fought my last battle, where he had been forced to retreat. His smile turns to one of sweet satisfaction. "I will never be a memory," I whisper to myself. I consider finding Cloud and finally silencing him. But then I look out towards the sky, and I can't help but feel drawn to the ocean of swirling energy that lies beyond our world.

Take in the panoramic view that my perch allows. This world, so small… so insignificant, why should I bother with this place? My Promised Land shall be elsewhere. Not even Mother could comprehend this revelation, how much more there is. She wanted to rule this world… I tried to carry on her goals, and failed. Success may lie elsewhere.

A slight breeze causes my hair to flutter slightly. I close my eyes, and breathe deeply

It is time for my to leave this world. It is time to find a way to move on from this wretched place. No one here is worth the effort to even challenge. I would simply slaughter them all, and if there are more worthy opponents and even greater power out there, then I shall gather and conquer all. Then I might return and take my rightful place.

I reach into the core of my being and bring out a spark, I feed Mako into it. After a flash of green light, I find myself in the roiling torrents that lie beyond my world. I have yet venture far, something inside me tells me to stay, and… I can hear it now, a whisper at the fringes of my mind. I grit my teeth and pouch it away and turn my back on Gaia, setting off to wherever these currents take me…

After some indeterminate time a large grey sphere appears at fringes of my sight, it's the same shroud the surrounds Gaia. Have I found a new world? Probably, I wonder what it holds. Once I reach it, I peel back the veil and step through.

I emerge from a burst of aquamarine light in a green, verdant, peaceful grassland. In the distance I can see red-hued mountains to the east and oceans from the coast to the horizon.

As my eyes wander I see a massive beast rear up in the distance and sound a thunderous roar from its many heads. I smirk, a challenge, is this providence or simple chance?

I begin sprinting in the direction of the beast, the hydra.

I am forced to stop when I encounter a sheer cliff that leads up to where hydra stands. No matter, I leap into the air and take flight, speeding up the rock face.

I come to rest gently upon the plateau. Forty or so men and women stand, gawking in fear and awe. The beast roars again, all of us reach to cover our ears at the sound. I fell blood beginning to leak down my neck. I shove the pain away, it's _almost _as loud as my fans were.

This will be fun. I smile to myself. I dart under the beast and reach those who I assume to be the commanders of the force. The foolish beast is too busy with demonstrating its ability to throw a tantrum to notice me.

When it stops the man and woman leading a group of warriors look at me. "Who are you?" the woman asks.

"Introductions can wait, unless you want to be devoured by that." I point to the hydra. She nods.

I pull Masamune from my back, and the blade twangs deliciously. "How do we kill it?" I ask.

The beast sends a head for the warriors, who then scatter like chaff in the winds. Hardly worth the effort of being called 'warriors'. I leap up into the air and slash one the monster's head's away, and three out of the ten that it had.

Then I noticed how there are now ten more heads, between the woman on the ground and my efforts.

I growl, frown and grimace. I back off a little and see that the woman has somehow conjured around ten soldiers to the battlefield, while she and they had hopelessly against the regenerating flanks of the beast. The monster crushes several underfoot. I bolt for the man leading the now all dead force.

"How do we kill it?" I ask urgently, while landing beside him

"We chop off all its heads, simultaneously."

I sigh, irritation growing inside me. "We'll have to figure something out, quickly. I'll distract it." I take to the air again begin stabbing and slashing at the heads, I do little actual damage, the wounds healing over instantly. But the man, woman and summoned warriors obtain some breathing room. Daxos launches some sort of an ice spell and the movements of the best slow accordingly.

I pull my blade out of the eye of the monster, and see another head go for the woman, she manages to dodge around the head and slash down on the neck…

I brace myself for the new pair about to sprout.

Until she stops about three quarters of the way through, it hangs there limply, unable to heal…

I chide myself at my own stupidity, and set to work on the heads that attack me, while she and the man set about hacking at the ones below.

With a moment or so I successfully cleave through four of the remaining fourteen, the extra care needed slowing me down slightly. The other two cut their way through six between the pair of them. Soon the last four are dealt with and the beast sways as the remaining blood drains from the body and eventually collapses sending tremors through the ground from its sheer mass. Elspeth leaps forward and impales the creature with her weapon. I grin with well earned satisfaction and rejoin my new comrades, for lack of a better term, on the ground.

"We have earned a mighty victory here today," another young man appears. "The gods will be pleased!"

"They will be. Now, who are you?" The first man asks.

"Sephiroth, you?" I answer.

"I am Daxos, Prophet of Heliod, this is Stelanos a fellow priest and Elspeth, Heliod's Champion," he points to the second man and woman respectively. I nod. Who is Heliod?

He looks at Elspeth, and if I'm not mistaken, he recognises her from somewhere. When he looks back, I notice… desire in his eyes. "So, Heliod has chosen you to be his Champion. He sent me to welcome and see that you reach Meletis in tact. As his Champion, there is a place for you in his Temple. You on the other hand, do you have a place to stay?"

"No, I don't," I answer

"Well, I extend the hospitality of our temple."

"You have my thanks. It will be temporary, I assure you" I recall back to when I could simply meld beck into the Lifestream and not need to worry about sleep, or eating. Unfortunately this planet doesn't have a Lifestream as far as I can tell, and this new body is so much more human than my previous ones… frailer. It was an unfortunate compromise, and one I was loathe to make. Being able to have to waste eight hours a day sleeping meant I was so much more productive.

"Take as long as you wish," Stelanos says. I nod.


	3. Chapter 2

Several weeks later

(Elspeth POV)

It's been a while since the battle on the Four Winds Plateau with the hydra, Polukranos, and since then Daxos, Sephiroth and I have enjoyed the adoration of the Meletian people. Every night one is likely to find at least one bard, or poet, singing of our triumph. I mostly stay in the Temple of Heliod, studying the Thesiad, the stories of the gods and heroes of Theros, to learn of my new calling as Champion of the Sun God.

I still have no idea what that actually entails…

Sephiroth has voiced several concerns about the lack of definite description. I agree with him. What does Heliod actually _want_ from me? He wouldn't just pick me for no reason at all. If that were the case then there are hundreds, if not thousands of warrior who would easily be my equal. Daxos has not been overly helpful either, but I think, given his status as the Oracle of Heliod, he has little choice. He must watch what he says, or else he'll lose standing with the other priests and priestesses and favour with Heliod.

Once again caught between a rock and a hard place. I seem to have a talent for this.

Sephiroth has since moved out of the temple-complex and into lodgings elsewhere in the city and begun taking mercenary jobs, mostly escorting caravans between here and Akros. When he's not busy he frequently spends time sparring with Daxos or me, studying the Thesiad or taking lessons with me in how master his new planeswalker abilities. Something that we must do discreetly.

He has shown quite the aptitude for Black and White Mana. He almost instantly bonded with the plains just outside the city, and was drawing power from them in no time, and while away on a job he found a swamp and bonded to it with equal ease. Though he shows little interest in using his magic, instead, rather like me actually, he uses his sword to fight his battles.

I finish up polishing my spear-blade, Godsend, leaving it to rest against the wall I go to my window and look out at the sun falling below the horizon, and the empty night sky. Since Kruphix, the God of the Horizon, sealed the other gods in Nyx, the mortals can no longer see them as they prance about the sky.

I hear a knock on my door

I turn around to see Daxos standing in the doorway. "Hello Daxos, come on in." Did I leave it open? "Take a seat."

"Thank you," he says. "Feels so strange, doesn't it?"

"What?"

"Nyx being empty," he says pointing out the window. "Nyx was always when I had piece, when Heliod's voice was not whispering in my mind, or bellowing more often than not." We both laugh. "I used to speak with Nylea when the sun went down, now… only silence."

I look out at the sky again, still as a statue. "When do you think Kruphix will end the Silence?"

"Soon enough, he can't keep them trapped like that forever."

"I wonder what Sephiroth is doing right now…"

(Sephiroth POV)

I come to the mouth of a wide valley. Skola Valley I was told. A place of never ending rollicks and revels. Ruled over by the illustrious King Stranger, the Satyrs promise to give you never ending pleasure.

It doesn't look like much… A few scattered bonfires, I can hear flutes, drums and lyres playing. Though Midgar nightlife never held much appeal in my eyes, I would much prefer it to this. I do note a strange haze surrounding the clearings that I can see, it shifts from red to orange to pink and to purple.

I begin trudging down the hill. Find the kid, bring him back to his father, get paid, simple. Except that there's a few dozen young men and women from all the major poleis here, and while I have an accurate description, there's several square miles of ground to cover.

Once I reach the valley floor, I'm hit with a cacophony of sounds and scents. Humans and Satyrs dance, laugh, eat and drink. I see that haze swirl beneath my feet.

Images start to blur, sounds begin to become drawn out and the world begins to slow…

I channel some my remaining reserves of Mako to clear my head and erect a barrier around my mind. I continue milling through the crowds, being offered platters and drinking horns of this and that, and several human women trying to make advances on me. I ignore all of it.

After several minutes of this drudgery I find myself right at the heart of the valley, in front of palanquin with a Satyr lounging on a long-chaise. I see a silver glint in his chest, and scar tissue surrounding it… why doesn't he remove it?

"Ah, we have a stranger in our midst, hello friend," the Satyr says in a smooth voice, further accompanied by a sleazy smile. "Do stay and play a little."

I cast a few sideways glances the clearing at the revellers. "And associate with these vermin, you've got a poor eye for people."

The Satyr chortles, "Funny, I'd say otherwise." He rises and gets off the palanquin. "I know you. What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't."

"Why do you speak so curtly?"

"Why are you a snivelling goat?"

He looks hurt, "Ouch, all I'm offering is simple hospitality, as is sacred on this plane, you could at least show a little respect."

"Earn it."

"Very well, do you know who I am?"

"A goatman, with an ego."

"I am Xenagos, otherwise known as King Stranger."

I meet his gaze, "I've heard of you."

"Good things I hope."

"They're just stories, and from what I've seen they're about as genuine as the gods."

"Ohh, I'd watch that tongue of yours, it might get you in trouble."

"Let's get to the point, I'm here because a Meletian nobleman's brat ran away with a few friends, and came here and he wants his son back. His name is Denarious."

Xenagos points to a Satyr standing by the palanquin, "You, make yourself useful and go find the one he's looking for." The Satyr bows and scurries off. "Now since he's going to take a while, and I've given you my name…"

"No."

"I might have one make one up."

"Fine, Sephiroth."

"Ah, so your one of the Heroes of the Four Winds Plateau, the stories really don't your visage any justice. Tell me Sephiroth, where are you from?"

"A far off land." Where's that little brat?!

"I'd imagine, I know what you are."

"Oh?"

"I'm like you as well."

"Really?" I say with disinterest

"Oh, it's always nice to meet a fellow planeswalker."

"King Stranger, I have the boy." The Satyr returns with a handsome young man with fine clothes and quite a bit of jewellery.

"What is it, my lord?" the boy asks Xenagos.

"This man is here from your father."

The boy looks at me, "I'm here to bring you back."

"No! I'll pay you double!"

"You can't since your father is in control of your finances. There besides, even if you did have you own fortune, your father could still double that." I cast my mind into the Blind Eternities, back to Gaia, and into the Lifestream. I find the essences of my Remnants and pull Loz through the Eternities to Theros, just as Elspeth taught me. In flash of black and white light he appears, garbed in his black leather jacket, with his electro-vambrace. He starts shooting glances around the clearing. "Loz!" I snap. "Focus, I need you to subdue that boy." I point to Denarious.

"This isn't practise?" Loz asks

"No," I answer. Since Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz are the only beings that I have sufficient connection to, I've been pulling them back and forth across the Eternities to perfect my summoning. I still prefer to fight my battles using my own abilities and Masamune, only a cripple, ghost or coward uses other to fight his battles. "Don't use your vambrace, I need him unharmed."

Loz nods and starts towards the boy. Denarious turns and breaks into a sprint. Loz chuckles and picks up his pace, easily outrunning the Meletian noble after a few metres. Lo tackles the boy to the ground. "Come on twerp!" Loz says harshly as he drags the boy back to me.

"Impressive, is he a relative?" Xenagos asks.

"You could say Loz is my younger brother."

Loz walks up with the boy, "What now?"

"I bring him back to his father and get paid."

"Right, can I talk to you."

I groan peevishly, "Later."

A few minutes later the three of us exit the valley, Denarious shooting dirty gances at the both of us. "Can we talk now?" Loz asks.

"I suppose."

"Well, the three of us are wondering what happened to you since the last time you gained a new body. You seem to have forgotten about Mother."

"Did you ever wonder what I did after I gained this new body? First I returned to Shinra Manor in Nibeheim, and read Professor Ghast's and Hojo's notes again. What I found was disturbing, they thought that Jenova was an actual Cetra."

"Yeah, she is."

"It isn't, the exact wording was that they believed that it was a Cetra. It came from somewhere else, not another plane, but another place within our home universe. Somewhere from beyond our Planet, it is the reason that the Cetra were destroyed, and it isn't our mother, a Shinra scientist called Lucretia Crescent is. Jenova's cells were injected into her and me while she was carrying me. A variation of this process is what produced SOLDIER."

"So, you no longer care about Mother?"

"No, if she surfaces again I want you to find me and tell is only fitting that I be the one to bury that thing for good."

"What makes you think that she'll be back, Kadaj used the last of her cells turn to into you when you fought Cloud last time."

"I can still hear her in my head, somehow, despite the fact that this body contains no Jenova cells, I'd have Geostigma if that were the case. But I can still hear her every so often, whispering to me."

"I hear you, she's telling us to continue to destroy the world."

"She tells me to do the same, only… why should I stick to one plane when there are an infinite number out there." I sweep my arm across the night sky, or Nyx as it is known here. "I want to become a god, I need to build up my strength. The Mana and Aether I use to summon you and the others is a better, more abundant source of power than the Lifestream alone.

"So, you still gonna build the Promised Land?"

I allow myself a smirk, "Absolutely, and I will rule over it as a god!"

Up in Nyx, Heliod watches the world below, two things in particular. The white-haired man currently leaving the Skola Valley and Elspeth talking with Daxos in Meletis. Since Kruphix enacted the silence he and the other gods have been trapped in Nyx, but they are watching events unfold down below. Heliod sees that there is more to both Sephiroth and Elspeth than meets the eye. He knows this, and it frightens him, how can there be something more than he is, something that can threaten him… really threaten his existence. End it even.

But they might prove useful, he then turns his gaze up the blind spot of Skola Valley…

(Sephiroth POV)

The boy and I reach Meletis a few days later, having sent Loz back to Gaia and giving him the ability to send thoughts to me. Denarious tried to run away twice. Hounding him down was easier than not dicing that insolent goat-man, Xenagos. How dare he see me as his equal. _Never mind_ my superior. Barbaric beast needs to learn his place. As we pass through the streets of Meletis, Denarious struggles to break free.

"Do you ever admit defeat?"

"Do you know what he'll do to me?"

"Your father? I'd imagine discipline you."

"He'll beat me!"

"To my knowledge that is standard practice here. And besides you nothing of what _real_ pain is."

"How cruel are you?"

"Cruelty and indifference are two separate things."

"Hey, stop right there!"

I turn to see a guard scowling at us, "How may I help you?" I ask

"This boy your with, who is he and why are you with him?" Lovely an overzealous guard. If the boy didn't make so much noise. "I don't care if your one of three who killed Polukranos."

"His father sent me to retrieve him from the Skola Valley, and his name Denarious," I answer, while reaching into my coat for the contract. "Here this should clear things up."

The guard takes it and scans through it, "Alright… everything seems to be in order. I didn't think you'd be one for mercenary work."

"There was a confrontation brewing while I staying in Heliod's Temple between the priests and I, so I left and found lodgings elsewhere, I needed money. There was also nothing else that held my interest for very long."

"Fair enough, carry on." I smile at him and take the boy away. A little later on we finally arrive outside of Denarious's father's mansion. We enter the front hall and a servant runs off to find the master. I take a seat while the boy paces about the hall.

"Maybe you should have thought about the consequences before you fled two weeks ago," I say to the pacing young man.

"Everyone does it!"

"For a couple of days at most, if I'm not mistaken."

"Xenagos personally requested that I stay."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes."

"He didn't seem to sad to part with you…"

"Ah, Denarious, my boy!" The young man's elderly father came out as fast as his aged legs would carry him.

Denarious looked at me, I smile. "What's happening?"

"A messanger dropped this by," the old man held out a letter. "A ransom note from someone calling himself King Stranger, looking for iron from our mines."

"Your father sent out a bounty, I was the only one to snap it up."

"Why didn't you say something about this?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"I would have!"

"Not really, your father warned me that you wouldn't do as your told," I say. "Now, I believe-"

"Of course, Sephiroth," the boy's father say, and a servant brings a huge sack, the largest I've yet received, of gold. I take it from the servants quaking arms. I also fall over from the wight of it. "20,000 as promised."

"Good doing business with you," I say with a professional smile. I turn and leave the building, hefting this damned sack across my shoulder.

I walk through the streets towards the small apartment I bought in the higher-priced end of the Foreign Quarter, still not luxury. I pass through the markets, with the cacophony of merchants haggling and flogging wares, exotic animals vocalising their distress and travelling minstrels, bards and troubadours plying their art. I stop at one little performance, seems to be a love story…

Genesis… his face shoots up from my memory. I feel the corners of my mouth turn downwards. What happened to him? He seemed to have simply disappeared, where he went I don't know. I wish… I wish I did.

I can hear his voice echoing endless quotes from LOVELESS. I always meant to try and find that last act that was lost…

I wonder if there are copies of the various planes…? Variations, if what Elspeth described is true, it's not impossible. I'll find a place where there is a complete copy of LOVELESS, even if Genesis has passed on, I feel it will honour his memory to see that people can finally savour the ending that so many crave, Genesis most of all.

I would like to know the ending too, even though Angael hated it. The only one of us who escape accompanying Genesis to a performance without an excuse, for he couldn't remain awake through a full performance. I, at first hated it, as much because Genesis never let up about it, than I had actually read it. Eventually, one day, I acquiesced, I borrowed one of his many copies, one with copious amounts of annotations. It took me about seven months to read, with large gaps in-between reading sessions, long debates with Genesis, rereading many of the passages to glean their meaning. I remember it well, a deep character study, an epic tall of love lost and won. It still irritates me how the ending was lost.

I drop the sack and continue to watch. I see the two protagonists struggle with one being a hero anointed by the gods and how his ever more challenging quests placed ever greater strain on their love. All acted in silence. I can feel the anguish the characters feel. My anger swells at the gods for their unrelenting callous disregard for the Hero's feelings and desires. They encourage him to set aside his own dreams, doing it for the greater good…

Except the Hero fights for his lover, He wants her to be safe, he acts out of fear; fear of monsters, fear of foreign invaders, but most of all, fear of the gods. He fears for what they will do to his family, friends and most importantly his lover. I feel my heart begin to ache for him.

I look up to the sun beginning to set.

I shoulder the sack again and leave. Do the gods want humanity's loyalty and love, or fear? They seem to be ever willing to sic monsters of polies (the constant Minotaur attacks on Acros springs to mind), then have a man or woman rise up and kill them, then destroy the hero in some way, or send calamities because mankind forgot to slaughter an animal upon their altar, or just because they can. It makes no sense, but then again Hojo wasn't all that keen on religion or spirituality, being more interested in pursuing whatever mad line of experimentation he set himself upon. I find myself cringing at that pathetic excuse of a human. Many and varied are the monsters that inhabit Gaia, none so callous and disgusting as Hojo.

Soon I find myself outside the building that contains my flat. I make my way up to the first floor. Once inside I drop the sack next to the door, grab the bottle of wine on the sideboard, and a glass. I pour some in and plop down in my favourite seat, angled to get as much natural light as possible. I grab the book on philosophy (novels are remarkably scarce and really only encompass a narrow range of genres) from the little table next to the chair and replace it with my drink.

I open the tome and begin to read…


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

(Sephiroth POV)

Where am I…?

I look around I see Daxos, Elspeth, Nikka, a young Akroan woman who I met shortly after slaying Polukranos, and another woman who wore green, had a well muscled body and strong features. We're sitting in a pavilion while I can hear music and dancing outside.

We're making souvlaki, skewers of roasted meat and vegetables.

The scene shifts to outside, on the way to Heliod's temple in Akros. Nikka is sitting on the ground, with a wound in her stomach, I'm healing it as fast as I can, and Elspeth is standing watch over us. I look towards one of the mountains in the distance where large clouds are gathering in the night sky. Lightning crackles through the clouds and begin striking the summit.

After a few minutes of this, the mountaintop exploded and a massive Satyr took its place, I can't see the creature's face. He almost immediately looks to Nyx and disappears into the sky. The dream fades away again.

I find myself standing outside the Temples of Heliod and Ephara. From my position at the top of the steps of Heliod's Temple which gave me a large field of view.

I notice the milling crowds parting around a young woman. She's dressed in a pair of black shorts with a flowing length of material that gives the impression of a cloak or long coat. A black midriff baring top covers her torso. I begin walk away from my perch and approach, as my vision begins to fade again…

My eyes flutter open, I'm back in my apartment. I rub my face with both hands, I can see dawn's first light begin to break through my bedroom window. I trough of my blanket and splash some water on my face. I stare into the mirror above my basin. My long hair is heavy mussed and disheveled, and the bathhouse isn't open yet…

I sigh. Why did I ever let Shinra tell me to grow my hair long? It would make you look good they said, it would make you popular they said.

I suppose they never expected to have a Planeswalker in their ranks. Not unreasonable given that Elspeth has told me that we usually go to great lengths to conceal the fact that we can move across the planes of the Multiverse.

Truth be told I like it this way. I draw some Mana and cast a spell to straighten it out. As much as I enjoy immersing it in steaming water, magic must suffice sometimes.

I pull on my black trousers and long coat, with the suspenders crossed over my chest, same as usual, or at least as often as I can afford without body door becoming a problem, and slip on my boots. A body of Jenova cells was so much easier to look after, no need to eat, drink or sleep, or other pesky human needs.

I leave my apartment and head towards Heliod's Temple.

(Elspeth POV)

I stand in the grand stoa, awaiting Daxos, who has yet to arrive. Which is odd, he's usually here before I am, we _usually _meet here everyday to spar, if Sephiroth is around he joins in too. Daxos hasn't shown up yet, and, well Sephiroth loves the other side of town, so he's usually not around until a little latter on.

I think back to a note that I found slipped under my door this morning. There's no signature on it, but I recognise the hand writing as Daxos', and I seemed like something he would say, 'You are the divine protector in Heliod's absence. You alone can wield his weapon. You are destined to be the Hero of Theros.'

It's been on my mind since I read it. On the surface it sounds like the platitudes that Daxos and the other priests and priestesses spout when I ask what being a champion entails, Sephiroth too. On the other hand I wonder whether he's trying to say something in some sort of code, because as Heliod's oracle, he has to maintain an outward and inward appearance of piety, something that the other members of the Temple have begun to doubt since the Silence was enacted a month or so ago.

I think back to when I asked him about the meaning of the silence. His answer amounted to what was simply 'life carries on as normal' while also mentioning the members of the Temple rarely ever see a god. I guess I should count myself fortunate that not only have I met one, but that he tried to kill me, and then nominated me his champion when I used magic to resist, creating my current weapon, Godsend, from my sword. Which I obtained when I first came Theros many years ago, a short time after I ascended, and I met Daxos when he was a child, not much younger than me.

Finally I arrive at an argument that happened yesterday morning. During our usual morning starring session, I asked for a definitive answer about what my entails and means… I got the same platitudes and vague evasions. One thing led to another and he accused me of being selfish…

What's that?

I see Sephiroth's silver mane, nothing else really describes it. Strangely accentuated by his now darkened skin. He casts his glowing green "Mako eyes" on me.

"Good morning, Elspeth," he extends casually. He looks around himself. "Where's Daxos?"

"I don't know. He hasn't shown up today."

He tilts his head to one side, "Oh…is he unwell?"

I shrug.

He smirks, "You look bored, perhaps I could substitute?"

"Alright." I adopt my ready stance, Godsend held out forwards, knees bent, facing sideways, so as to reduce the available areas for immediate attack

He takes his blade from his back, he remains bends his knees slightly and holds his massive curved sabre with both hands, holding it parallel to his face. He scrutinises my every twitch with great intensity, but seems unwilling to make the first move…

I take a step to my right and he takes one to my left in perfect sync

I step back to where I was and he matches without fault, that same steely, cold expression. He raises an eyebrow.

I take two steps to the left and he matches mechanically. I stare into those cold, almost dead eyes.

We continue circling, neither one of us wants to launch the first blow, lest the other has some counterstrategy…

(Sephiroth POV)

I await like a viper on the hunt. Each moment Elspeth is another I have to formulate my plans, every second she procrastinates further seals her defeat.

She springs forwards thrusting Godsend straight towards my side. I duck under the blow, sidestep, then come up to strike her from the side. She anticipates and swings her spear-blade around and throws my stab off, and leap away, just narrowly evading Elspeth's counter stab.

I spring forward, swinging with an upwards diagonal slash. Elspeth positions herself to block with staff. I smirk, I skip to the opposite side and redirect Masamune to my attack vector. Elspeth tries to dodge the sudden blow, however she's firmly with in Masamune's reach. I stop the blade just above her shoulder.

"Impressive," I say to her.

"Thank you, not too shabby yourself."

"Another round?" I ask as I remove my coat and throw it out of the ring.

"Yeah, but, are you trying to distract me?"

I turn to her with a smirk, "That depends, do you find me distracting?"

"No…" I detect a slight hint of uncertainty.

"First woman in my life who has admitted that!" I say with a smile tugging at my lips. I adopt my ready stance, as does she. "Who ever they are must be a very special someone."

We both spring towards each other simultaneously, locking blades in a bind at the centre of the arena. I leap back and slash downwards in a diagonal arc, while she counters by swinging Godsend up to meet it.

The two collide and Elspeth deflects my slash, I use my momentum to barrel into her and send the woman tumbling to the ground, while leap over, perform a one-handed cartwheel and land on my feet. I press the attack, but she once again parries beautifully and throws me off balance.

She springs to feat and sends a flurry of rapid spear blows to my torso, I beat each away… barely. Her newfound fury pushes to ever greater feats as she leaps into the air, higher than I thought possible and launches a piercing attack that bypasses Masamune and touches me lightly upon the chest.

"Tell me, were you the rule or the exception on Bant?" I ask, as we reset our stances.

"The exception, but many were above me."

"That is something I find hard to believe," I respond. It sounds a bit more flirtatious than intended, I'm not one for mincing words, I to speak candidly. It can go either way

Elspeth smiles sweetly, "You flatter me."

"An accurate assessment of prowess is hardly flattery," I shoot back.

We lock blades again, this time the bout rapidly descends into something resembling a dance of death. We slash, cut, stab, thrust, duck, dive and parry our way around the training arena, both of us have learned from the previous rounds how to cover our weaknesses.

After an in determinant period we lock our blades in a bind, and glaring furiously into each others eyes, sweat glistening on our brow, beginning to run down in droplets and the sun having risen a quarter of the way through its daily climb. "I've had enough," I break the bind and head for my jacket. My stomach growls loudly.

"Let's get some breakfast," Elspeth suggests.

"Yes, I could use some sustenance, then to the bathhouse."

I strap Masamune to my hip and throw my coat over my arm, and leave alongside Elspeth.

We enter the refectory, it's primarily devoid of life, aside from a few people who were late getting up this morning. A couple of lay-servants place bowls of porridge with honey in front of us, while others pour out goblets of water.

When the servants left, Elspeth says, "Any interesting jobs recently?"

"No, but I have some interesting news out of Akros that I heard from the last convoy I escorted to the polis." I respond.

"What is it?"

"There are rumours of random animal heads mounted on spikes have been found scattered around the Kollophon, in particular, right inside the Royal Palace."

Elspeth is taken slightly aback, "Really?"

"King Anax is starting to lose his mind over it, or so the stories say."

"Very strange…"

"One of the most popular theories is that it's some mad prophet trying to warn them of some impending doom. I think it's a group who want to make the king lose face. Prophecy is far too vague. It's just as easy to twist a prophecy to suit facts as it is to twist facts to suit prophecy."

"Perhaps, but people here put great trust in omens."

I shrug, unwilling to press the matter further. I take my first spoonful. "Has something happened between you and Daxos?"

She take a sharp breathe, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"I'll not pry further then." We both continue to eat in silence.

About halfway through the meal, Elspeth asks, "Have you had any strange dreams lately?"

My spoon stops about midway between my bowl and mouth. "Yes actually… why?"

"I have been having some as well."

I cock an eyebrow. Elspeth continues, "First off is I see a man being impaled by a Minotaur, second I've stabbed a young man in the neck with a skewer, and finally I find your remnants have planeswalked into the Temple Gardens after creating proper bodies for themselves, and… walking into this temple with murder in your eyes."

I frown, "I saw you, Daxos, Nikka, another woman and I having dinner in a tent, then you, Nikka and I on the mountain trail up to Heliod's Temple in Akros, we had stopped, Nikka was wounded, I healing her and you were standing guard, when a giant Satyr exploded out of a nearby, and teleported itself into Nyx, and finally I was standing under the colonnade outside when a woman appeared, one from my world."

"I wonder are these portents and omens, or figments of our imaginations." Elspeth says with a hint of irony.

I smirk and shrug, "We shall see."

We finish up, I throw on and buckle up my coat before heading out of the temple to my favourite bathhouse nearby, while Elspeth heads with a few priest and lay-members to tend to the sick and poor.

I enter the front lobby of the establishment.

"Good morning, Sephiroth," the receptionist says with a smile. I'm arguably their most regular costumer, personal hygiene is of a generally acceptable standard here, at least per Gaian culture, with most favouring a bath every second day, I on the other hand prefer to take it to once a day, while I'm in Meletis.

"Morning, Astraxia," I say back.

"The usual?"

"No, I'll take the Golden Treatment, please."

"Of course, go right in." I leave my fee on the counter and enter the changing rooms…

I leave about two hours later deeply at east and relaxed, that was a goddamned bargain! My body feel loose and incredibly pliable. I go to the bounty board in the main city square. Several other sell-swords and I jostle to see what's going. Several part for me, having learned that pushing me out of the way results in finding yourself ten feet away, while I take the best pickings.

I scan around and find nothing of particular interest. Most of them same mundane drivel, missing persons, bandit leaders, minor monsters that need removing, and the ever present need for caravan guards especially as monster attacks have increased since the Silence. Nothing worth pursuing since my trip to the Skola Valley.

Just thinking about it casts my mind back to the peculiar ransom note, what would a Satyr want with iron? Smelting and mining techniques have only just been refined to make the process viable, iron still remains the domain of the rich men who want wall ornaments, heroes who want an edge and kings, most notably King Anax has an iron sarissa, and rumour has it he's commissioned a suit of iron armour.

I wonder if it has anything to with the fact that animal head keep turning up inside his palace…?

I move away, and look up to that the sun has reached its daily peak.

I turn around and begin to walk towards the Temple of Ephara, goddess of the polis, and Meletis Patron. I find her to also be one of the most bearable members of the pantheon.

As I reach the top, a wind sweeps through my hair, and stops… I turn around to see crowds gathering around a young in dark shorts and vest, crouching over, with her hand clutching her stomach, while blood spills out onto the ground. I immediately channel White Mana into a healing spell. The crowd parts for me without complaint.

I press my hand to the wound as soon as I get with reach. Just out of curiosity, I pull back her fringe.

I raise my eyebrows…

"Tifa Lockheart…"

She starts glaring at my healing spell and snaps her attention to me. She pushes me away considerable force. She stands up, and tries to ready herself for a fight. "What are you doing here?!" she says with as much force as her wounded body will allow, though my spell has significantly decreased the bleeding.

"I have no interest in you dying, right now you need a healer."

Just then Stelanos and two other priests from the temple burst through the crowd, "Where is she?"

I nod in her direction. Stelanos glares at Tifa's wound, "You need healing, now!"

"Not while he's around!" She points to me

"Tifa, I'm not here to cause trouble." I retort sharply. "Look I'll explain everything when you have recovered but right—"

"HEY BROTHER!" someone shouts nearby. I turn to see a young man with a black wing over his left shoulder, with a longsword in his right hand. He stands perched upon a nearby building, with a savage grimace.

Tifa gasps.

"Come on, let's get you healed," Stelanos says urgently. Tifa allows herself to be led away.

"Who are you?" I call back to this Jenova-spawned filth

"My name is Eli and Mother sends her regards!" he swings his sword and a blade of black energy erupts from it. I erect a field of White Mana around my immediate surroundings, and blade dissipates harmlessly against it.

"It is not my mother. My was Lucretia Crescent."

"How dare you speak of Mother as a 'thing.'"

"I believe in giving accurate descriptions," I reply coldly. "Now, is there any particular reason for you being here, or are you wasting my time to delay your inevitable demise?"

"Mother wants you dead, and she created me, as your superior, to do it!"

"There is only one Sephiroth, any who are made in my image are pale, worthless copies," I say with icy derision. I draw Masamune. "Shall we finish this, or are still frightened?"

He screams and lunges through the air at me. I spread my own wing and leap into the air. He dashes beneath me harmlessly.

"Your fast," he says up to me from where I stood just a second ago.

"Your grasp of the obvious is admirable, but I think my better needs to grasp the finer details." I retort backhandedly. He leaps up and slashes wildly. I casually deflect each blow.

"Oh yeah?"

"For instance, he who claims to be my superior should at least demonstrate basic swordsmanship."

He yells at me and seemingly pulls his act together, tightening his movements, making more controlled attacks. I still block each with ease. He clasps his sword with both hands and raises it above his head. I make a quick stab into stomach.

He rolls out of the way, but I catch him on the side. I make a swipe for his flank, to open the wound some more. He sees it coming and dodges, but leaves his wing open.

I slash at it and sever it just above the join. Eli screams and his eyes open in blind terror as gravity pulls him down to earth, and I plunge after him.

He hits the ground with a thunderous smash, and leaves a large dent in the paved square. "How did you get here?"

"Jenova made me to be like you!" Not exactly inaccurate, he has my long features and silver hair, though he wears his spiked in such a fashion as to put Cloud to shame. But Jenova knowing how to create copies of my Spark, that is… terribly disturbing. That she still exists doubly so.

"Why is Tifa here?"

"The chick? I dunno, I spotted her just before I left Gaia, Mother told me to kill her." Elspeth did mention that near-death experiences or extreme physical trauma are enough to ignite the Spark…

"Are there more of you?"

"Oh yes, loads of us and we are going to pick up where left off! But first we gotta kill your fucking traitorous ass."

"Where is Jenova?"

"She's in many places." I raise an eyebrow. "You see, she's in the Lifestream too, waiting for a way to come back, but that little flower slut you skewered plus some up-her-ass bitch called Minerva keep fighting her." Geostigma outbreaks were happening every so often before I left… "But she's got a plan, after you stopped whining like a fucking emo, brought back Kadaj and his boys and got yourself a new body, Mother's been looking to do the same, and she's close!"

I growl, flip my grip on Masamune and plunge the blade through Eli's chest.

He gurgles and spits out red… and green blood… Bahaumut's Name…

"If you think this is the end, you got another thing coming buddy! She knows where are, at all times, so no runnin', one day you gonna have to come back to us, brother."

"The next time I see Jenova, she shall taste the cold steel of my sword," I repond with a dead voice.

Eli simply bursts out in laughter, "Do you even hear yourself! All high and fucking noble, man, that, that spiky-haired fucker and the flower bitch did a number on your head!" He descends into painful convulsions that I assume to be laughter. They slowly give way to heaving up vast amounts of blood. I turn to walk away. "Oh that's it, walk away, run… I was told that you're some mighty warrior! You're nothing but a weak, shit-lickin' PUSSY!" Does this fool ever shut his mouth?

"Tall talk from the one drowning in his own blood," I say over my shoulder. He gives one final heave and cough before the blood loss finally forces him into unconsciousness, at last. I turn around and stab him again, if you want it done right, do it yourself.

As I have proven, death is not necessarily the end. Hopefully Erebos, God of the Dead, will keep him deep in the Underworld.

Is there any release from the eternal shackles that Jenova has locked around my soul? Any escape from her icy embrace?

My fingers tighten around the hilt of my blade.

Her life is mine, she took my life from me! I shall takes hers as recompense!

No one! No one takes from me for free!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

(Sephiroth POV)

I walk through the halls of Heliod's Temple to the healers' wing. My mind races with thoughts that the discovery of Eli brought. Jenova has not only found a means to create copies of me, well sort of, if she created them completely accurately the World Regenesis Organisation would have several hundred troops bearing down on them. But that it can replicate the Spark…

I feel cold fingers brush my spine. It could, hypothetically, travel to other planes where she could continue her cycle of slaughter unabated.

I cannot allow that. I facilitated the her rise, and thanks to Cloud and Co. I was stopped. Still took a second killing to realise my mistake and begin path back to sanity.

But how do you kill something that will simply refuse to die? In my time in the Lifestream after Nibelheim, I learned that Jenova can regenerate from a single cell. I let that hang in my thoughts…

And under the right conditions, such as the Lifestream, or given sufficient biomass, it can reform. The thing I saw in the reactor at Nibelheim was to the true Jenova, what my Remnants are to me, the larva, had Gast Faremis not unearthed it in the Northern Crater, it would have steadily regrew, and eventually took over, but that would have taken centuries. It took roughly a millennium for her to reach that stage, at minimum. It had to regrow without disturbing the WEAPONs, Gaia's defence system, that alone would mean that it had to do it slowly. It was at least delaying the inevitable.

I reach the wing, and enter Tifa's room.

She sleeps peacefully on a feather bed, her expression is serene. I wonder is she dreaming. In her Promised Land?

I tense my abdominals as memories of Nibelheim, of the slaughter, the flames, the dying screams of innocents…

My first sacrifice to Jenova. I walk to the large window and stare out into the street below

I sigh and push the memories to the back of my mind as best I can.

How all my life it whispered into my thoughts, like she whispered into all SOLDIERs, from the rawest 3rd Class to the mightiest 1st Class, me in particular.

Why?

"Ughhh." I snap my gaze around and see Tifa's head being to stir, she clenches her eyes tighter, and finally let's them open, before looking over towards me and squinting.

She tries to push herself into the wall, "What are you doing here?" she asks with smouldering rage.

"Checking up on you," I respond. "How do you feel?"

She seems slightly taken aback by my statement, "What…?"

"How are you feeling? It's a simple question."

"Fine, very lightheaded… but, why are you asking?"

"Wait here." I leave and find one of the lay-members and order some food and water for her. After a while, returns with a platter of meat, vegetables and a large jug of water. I follow him in and he sets it on a table.

"I… thank you." she says with a smile.

I smirk in response, "Your welcome. You have many questions, I would assume."

"Is there a fork?" she asks

"No, only spoons and knives."

Her shoulders slump. She picks at the food with her fingers and begins to eat. "Where are we, exactly?"

"The polis of Meletis, on the plane of Theros." She frowns but seems to run with it.

"Who was he, the guy who attacked me, and what did he do to me?" She asks with considerable interest.

"His name was Eli, and he claimed to be some sort of clone of me, or copy. Jenova has found a way to create bodies based on my genetic structure, hence the 'family' resemblance. What he did to you was ignite your Planeswalker Spark."

"What's that?"

"No one knows for sure exactly what the Spark is. It is agreed, however, that the Spark is a part of your soul. One in a million are born with them, and only a further one in a million haver their's ignited and survive to become Planeswalkers. We are mages and warriors of great power, without exception. We can walk from one world to another through the Blind Eternities."

"Is that the… the… er… I can't actually describe it."

"It's what you journeyed through to get here."

She nods, "What are you doing here?"

"Training, primarily, Planeswalkers can use magic, but it's radically different to the Materia we used on Gaia."

"How so?"

"Mana is divided into five colours; White, Blue, Black, Green and Red. Each represents a different philosophy or ideology, but for the sake of brevity, I'll won't go in too deep.

"What 'colours' do you use?"

"White, Black and I've started dabbling in Blue. The strongest connection I've felt is to Black." She eyes me warily. "Don't let the names deceive you, though commonly held to be the colour of 'evil,' Black simply represents the drive to gain power at all costs, including your own and others' lives, without Black society becomes static, it's opposite is White, which represents order, law, civilisation, when there is a distinct lack of White the world descends into anarchy."

"I think I see where you're coming from."

"I shall leave it there, we shall have to figure out your colour alignment at the very least so you can get back to Gaia, I do believe that two orphans live with you?"

She glares at me with narrow eyes that glint with suspicion, "How do you know about them?"

"Marlene and Denzel? Both Cloud and Denzel had Geostigma, and while they carried the disease I could reach into their minds and see their thoughts and memories," Tifa turns a very bright shade of pink, "don't worry, I didn't pry too much. The only details I knew, or I was bothered to know, was that you and Cloud were in a relationship, he left you to live in isolation, Marlene was staying with you at the time because Barret was away on a searching for oilfields. Also Clouds latest set of swords."

"That's all?"

"Yes, I didn't believe anything else to be pertinent at the time."

"By the way Marlene is back living with Barret, so don't even think—"

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?"

"Why, what purpose would harming you or anyone close to you serve?"

She averts her eyes and seems to lose herself in thought, "So you're no longer going to try and kill us?"

Tifa, I though you had a greater intellect, "No, I've loosened the shackles that Jenova locked around my soul."

"What?"

"How much do you know about my life before Nibelheim?"

"Not much, why?"

"I was never the most social person, and I only ever had two real friends, Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley. Genesis began to suffer cellular degradation due to the imperfect bond he had with the Jenova cells injected into his body, and so he rebelled against Shinra, taking Angeal with him. I was ordered, as their equal, to go and hunt them down and slay them down for this. It was the only mission I ever turned down. Zack Fair went in my stead. After that I withdrew into myself. That's when Jenova began whispering in my ear. She told me I was so much more than all of the 'measly' humans. That I should be lording over them. I also lost trust in Shinra, and Jenova helped with that."

"Wait, you mean, you just didn't lose your mind?"

"Those were the seeds of my madness. Nibelheim was to be my last mission. But I wanted to retire, originally. But while I was there I secluded myself in Shinra Manor and read some of the research notes on the Jenova Project, and came to the conclusion that I was its son, somehow, and that it was the last Cetra. I don't need to tell you the next part." She tenses up as memories of my actions flooded into her mind, from the burning of her town, to the events that transpired during the Geostigma epidemic. "Jenova allowed me to control her cells, and that's where I got my second body, through that, it increased its influence over me, and lied to me that if I summoned Meteor, I would become a god. The reality was that if that happened, Jenova would have the entire Lifestream with which to reconstitute itself, and consume the Planet and thus begin the cycle anew, and I would have been yet another helpless victim."

Tifa looks on in horror, and mouth slightly slack and her eyes wide, "Wait were you in control?"

"Yes, I was fully conscious of my actions, everything I did, I did of my own accord, Jenova just tipped me in the right direction every so often… and I'm aware of how that makes me responsible for killing your father and burning your town, and killing Aerith."

"Has she forgiven you?"

"Yes, but it took a long time… months, I was surprised that she even forgave me at all. It was just before I regained this body and I promised to get her a new body, and one for Zack."

"Have you found it?"

"Sort of… I can replicate the process that I used to create this body, but it requires a foetus in order to work, and I got this one from the WRO, but they abandoned the facility in question. My Remnants are currently searching for the new one."

"Kadaj and his gang?" she asks, I nod. "So when do I start?"

"A day or so, and you'll be ready."

"I look forward to it."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: I'd like to thank my four new followers for their support. I'd also like to encourage my readers to review this, the feedback would be very much appreciated, especially criticism, potholes or just questions, I'll get back to each reviewer personally**

**Thanks a bunch guys!**

(Tifa POV)

It's been about two or three days since I arrived here in Theros. Already I've been accepted by most people, though most people seem to accept the story about how I'm a princess from a far off land called Midgar, and Sephiroth's a member of the Royal Guard. I find it a little far fetched, but Sephiroth is regarded as a hero and they don't have anyone else's word to go against.

Sephiroth, much to my surprise, hasn't been causing trouble. The opposite in fact, he's trying to blend in. Just taking the odd mercenary job here and there to cover his expenses, and his library, I saw him walking down to the market with a sack full books he's finished in the past _week, _I knew SOLDIERs were smarter than normal humans, but that is frightening.

And now, with my wound healed(and not a single scar to boot), Sephiroth and another Planeswalker called Elspeth, the one who has been teaching Sephirothto use his new magical abilities, apparently completely independent of Materia, or the Lifestream.

We stop at point on the grasslands that is well out of sight on any road into Meletis.

Elspeth turns to face, while Sephiroth stands off to the side. "First lesson: in order to cast spells and planeswalk, you must learn how to draw, control and use Mana."

"What is Mana?"

"It is the energy that permeates every plane, it is what allows all things to grow and develop, without it, everything withers away to nothing and the Blind Eternities consume the plane. Using Mana sorcerers and Planeswalkers can create spells or summon creatures to fight by our side. However almost all organic beings are aligned with one of the five Colours of Mana."

I recall what Sephiroth mentioned after I arrive, "They're White, Red, Black, Green… and Blue?"

Elspeth nods, "I am a White Planeswalker. We stand for law, order, civilisation and structure. Red is the colour of impulse and passion. Black is the colour of selfishness, the drive for power and relentless ambition, those who seek power are often drawn to black as it offers the quickest route. White and Black are naturally opposed to one another, something Black shares with Red. Green is the colour of nature, community and strength, those with a heart drawn to beasts and wild places are aligned with Green. Blue is about science, research and experimentation. One does not have to restrict themselves to a single Colour, if one has the affinity, one can wield two, three or even more colours, for example, Sephiroth has demonstrated an affinity for Black and White."

That seems kind of contradictory, "But you said that Black and White are opposed."

"Any combination of colours is possible, as their representations are entirely abstract, White-Black typically represents those who seek power for a small group, with which to lord over all others, Shinra is a prime example of White-Black," Sephiroth interjects.

"But then… you want something similar."

"I still want to rule the Promised Land, I just have more options to have it come about, so no more Meteors," he responds with a smirk, "Unless, I need something to be gotten rid of extremely quickly." That has a little bit more venom.

"Like what?"

"We both know the _thing _I refer to," his voice has pretty much become a growl, and his eyes almost seem alight with hatred.

But he couldn't possibly be referring to Jenova, could he…?

She's his mother, or something like that… I dunno

He looks away, "I apologise, we should get back to the lesson," his voice has returned to its usual monotone.

"Right, Mana can drawn from land, plains for White, mountains for Red, swamps for Black, islands for Blue and forests for Green. This particular grassland is rich in White Mana. I want to see if you can harness it. Focus your mind, concentrate exclusively on your spirit and this plain."

"Okay," I respond. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and shut out the world around me, just me and the land around me.

I feel something stroking at my leg, I wince.

"Focus," Sephiroth says calmly.

I try to ignore it, until I feel my soul sending its own tendril to meet the one below me. The two connect and meld into one.

My eyes shoot open as power flows through my body, through my legs, and up my spine. My breathing becomes ragged and quick. I clench my fists, my nails are an inch from drawing blood.

It begins to fall away, the raw inferno of Mana begins to die down to a much softer fire. I feel warm inside, like an evening with a lover.

"Wow…' my eyes roll back into my head, and my legs give out from under me. I feel a pair of strong arms catch me, and I feel my weight rising into the air before a female voice says, "She has a strong affinity for White."

A velvety male voice responds, "I reminds me of when I bonded with my first swamp."

Something solid has connected with my back. My eyes flutter open, and Sephiroth's long features gaze down at me, "Feeling better?" he says flatly.

"Incredible, that was… that was…" my mind fails to wrap itself around the experience. I pull myself up to my feet again, feeling stronger and more alive than since I travelled here. It's like a piece of my soul has just been restored.

"It's to be expected, we all feel it when we first form a bond with a mana source, as time goes on and your experience grows, it will be less overwhelming," Elspeth says. "Do you wish to continue?"

"Yes, let's do it!"

"Good, now I will show you a few basic spells…"


	7. Chapter 6

(Tifa POV)

The sun is only begging to set when Sephiroth and I leave the Temple of Heliod. My head swirls with thoughts for Pipa and her bizarre condition… her soul snatched right out of her body. Sephiroth seems concerned in his own reserved manner, at least he seems to be. I asked him once why he hasn't left, he said that this place still held his interest.

I all feel so strange to be here with my greatest enemy, within hands reach. Sephiroth was never one for displays of emotion. Anytime I saw him on the news, or anywhere for that matter, he always had a blank expression, and only ever spoke in a velvety monotone. Even during… even during Nibelheim, he never once lost his cool, he always looked unsettlingly at peace with his actions. It was like he was just going about his everyday business.

It was the same during the Meteorfall Crisis.

And now as well. He seems different, less homicidal for one thing. But also quieter, he rarely speaks around me, unless, just like in there he has something to say.

"I get the sense you want to ask me something," he says, while looking in my direction.

"Ehh, no, no—"

"I can tell from the way you seem to be elsewhere, your eyes are unfocused and you keep biting your lower lip."

Damn it, I couldn't have been that obvious. "Fine, I was thinking about how you're different since the last time I saw you."

"Last time you saw me, I was battling Cloud amongst the ruins of Midgar. Jenovah still had her shackles around my mind, and I still thought I was avenging the Cetra for their destruction at the hands of mankind, and I had a vendetta against Cloud, it was the only way I could maintain consciousness within the Lifestream."

"What do you mean?" I ask

"I had to focus on something to stay 'whole,' but at the cost of several other parts of my being. The redeemable parts, the parts I thought were weak."

"What prompted you to change?"

"Aerith was growing sick of me resurrecting myself at every hands turn to attempt to continue my plans. She eventually started to dredge up the parts of me that I let go off, and she showed me what the Cetra actually were, and the true events of their downfall at the hands of Jenovah. I retreated to a quiet corner of the Lifestream and meditated on what I'd learned, and it was also during this time that I discovered my Spark. I resolved to bring myself back."

"And you did."

"Indeed, the WRO contracted Shinra to build a corps of super-soldiers using clones. I dispatched my Remnants and obtained one of the embryos, and in the pool where Aerith was laid to rest I rebuilt my body using the Lifestream. I then went back to Shinra Manor and re-read the Jenova Project research notes, but this time I was more careful, and knew part of what to expect."

"How did you know about these clones?" It must have been classified, I wonder… Yuffie is high up in the WRO, she'd know about stuff like this.

"One of the lead researchers died while working, I used his memories to locate the facility. My Remnants did the rest."

"Do you regret Nibelheim, Meteorfall or Geostigma?"

He stops and sighs, I swear I can see a tear welling in his eye, but he blinks it away as soon as it arrives and returns, "Yes…"

"But you weren't in control."

"No… I was, every action I did according to my own free will. Jenovah simply whispered in my ear, and prompted me in the right direction. Every SOLDIER hears voices inside his head. It's the Jenovah cells, most of the time they're simply whispers that even the slightest distraction can drown out. I was unfortunate, after I lost Angeal and Genesis, I started listening to them, my grief overriding my better judgement. They told me that I was the last Cetra, and suggested that Jenovah was my mother. Then I learned of the Jenovah Project… I don't need to continue." I think I see pain etched into his features, genuine regret, but his tone is the same as ever, even, calm, collected.

"Now you seek to make amends," I surmise.

He nods, "One can make the argument that what I've done is completely unforgivable."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know, was I born a monster in the guise of a human or was I born human and became a monster? If it was the former, can a monster earn redemption or is a monster always doomed to be a monster. In the case of the latter, can one go back to being human after the travesties I committed?"

…

"There besides," he continues, "not to sound like I crave attention, but I don't expect to ever earn redemption or forgiveness for my transgressions."

He sighs and his whole being seems to unwind with it… how long did he have that bottled up inside? I know it was tough when Cloud left Denzel, Marlene and I during the Geostigma Crisis because he felt he had failed to find a means cure to Denzel's and his own Geostigma. He hid behind a wall of isolation, I hid behind a smile, same as always. Sephiroth hides behind his stoicism; quiet, dignified and distant. But he let down his barriers for me, why? I'm one of his, or at least was, one of his sworn enemies, he tried to kill me! He murdered my father and burned my hometown! I have to know. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I have, on a personal level, wronged you and Cloud the most. I took away the thing you both loved most and burned Nibelheim. I feel I have the most to make up to you and Cloud."

"Where do you intend to start?" I ask

"By scouring Jenovah from the surface of Gaia, one inch at a time if I must," he says with absolute conviction, his face turns to a steely visage. "But first, I must prepare, and I trust my Remnants to keep things under control until I return."

"How do you intend to prepare?"

"I shall seek training in Black and Blue Mana, and I shall gather allies, other Planeswalkers, and creatures to summon if need be…"

(Yuffie POV)

I stare through the one-way glass at Kadaj sitting in a sparsely furnished interrogation room. He simply sits there staring back at the mirror. Wonder if he knows I'm here.

I hear the door open and look over to see Cissnei coming in. "Just got the your call, Director."

I tilt my head towards the interrogation room, "It seems an old friend has had a change of heart."

"What?" She looks towards the Remnant with suspicion and confusion.

"Sephiroth is on our side now, apparently."

"Since when?"

"A few months ago, apparently."

She grunts, I fold my arms across my chest. "I don't what's weirder, the fact that both the Remnants and Sephiroth are back or that Jenovah has resurfaced, this time intent on finishing what she started."

"Didn't Sephiroth use the last of her cells during the Geostigma Crisis?"

"Yes, I was there," I say slightly absent-mindedly. "Apparently Jenova isn't simply a multi-celled organism like we thought before, or single-celled, she's both."

Cissnei does a very small take, "That should be biologically impossible."

I nod, "I know, apparently when the cells are spread out or the main organism suffers severe damage, the cells effectively become a hive mind microbe, and seek to consume biomass, or in the case of our planet, the Lifestream, according to Kadaj, at least; then multiply and coalesce into a complex form."

Cissnei's features darken, "This is suspect at best."

"Agreed, the other two have ratified what he has said in their own words. I dunno. We need a more reliable source."

"Who else would know about this?"

Her name drags itself the forefront of my mind, "Aerith, she would know."

"She's dead."

"Sephiroth died, three times, this is their," I point to Kadaj, "second literal lease of life, Aerith has spoken to people through the Lifestream in the past. I don't think that her soul has passed on. If only there was a way to reach her…"

Cissnei sighs, "This is one interesting case."

The opens again and Reeve wanders in, scowling. "Sorry that took so long the rest of the Executive Committee is gasping for reassurance that we have this situation under control."

I can't hall but chuckle sardonically, "We're walking blind. Intel has nothing, except what we've retrieved from that truck so far, none of which is good."

"I haven't yet gotten that particular report," Reeve says.

"It has a virus that seems to be designed to be uploaded before locking us out, data mining our servers, then crashing them to wipe everything that was on them."

"Jenovah is getting rather more intelligent," Reeve rubs his chin, "she'd have a list of all our forces and their locations, right at her fingertips, while we'd stumble about in the dark."

"Even feel like your caught in a crossfire between gods?" Cissnei says off-handedly. We all chuckle.

"I want a word with him myself."

"Sir, that is probably not the best idea, this could all be an elaborate trick," I blurt out quickly.

"That is why you and two other guards will be accompanying me," he says, with what I think is reassurance. He's never shown a talent for irony before.

I sigh, "Yes, sir." What a fucking day!

(Sephiroth POV)

"_Embrace your dreams__…_"

Angeal?

"_The wandering soul knows no rest__…_"

Genesis?!

What? Where?

I wince as my open to bright white expanse that stretches as far as I can see. Blank floors meld into blank walls and then to blank ceilings. All are somewhat luminous, enough to provide ample light. I scan around my desolate surroundings… I appear to the only one here.

"Protect your SOLDIER honour…" Angeal's voice rings out in this hollow place

"She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting…" Genesis announces from no discernable source. My hand goes to my shoulder and grabs Masamune. I draw it.

"Did you protect your honour, Sephiroth?" I hear from behind my back. I turn around and nearly trip over my own feet.

Angeal is standing there… Buster Sword across his back, SOLDIER sword at his waist. Same solemn expression as always.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him. This can't be him… Zack killed him… he gave Zack the Buster Sword…

This is a dream.

"Am I really here?"

"I don't… I don't know."

"Hmm, did you answer my question?"

"No."

"Did you protect your SOLDIER honour?"

I hang my head. "No."

"Why not."

"It seems that he thought that he had found his Gift from the Goddess."

I spin to Genesis in his splendid red longcoat, the Rapier in his right hand, blade resting on his shoulder and a dumbapple in his left hand.

"What do you mean?"

"Your 'quest' to bring about the fall of the planet."

"Meteorfall," Angeal says grimly.

"I was not myself," I say, my usual weak defence.

"No you were not," Angeal says.

"You were led astray, 'so he became lost upon the path to the Goddess, lost in the woods, lost in night. His heart darkened to pure shadow, and he cast his companions aside for his own ends', remember that line?"

"LOVELESS Act III line 345. I understand, Jenovah… led me into the woods."

He grunts with a smile. "You seek to return to the path. Do you know where that is anymore? Do you remember what it looks like?"

"I… do not know," I respond despondently.

"Follow and embrace your dreams, Sephiroth, they will lead to the right path," Angeal interjects. "Rebuild your honour as a warrior, as SOLDIER. The organisation might have disbanded, but you are a SOLDIER born and bred, it is up to you to carry on the legacy of SOLDIER."

What honour? We were corporate puppets used to oppress many for the greed of the few.

"'And thus the Goddess said to the Knight with winged words, 'Go forth and return your compatriot to the path, bring him back to my embrace.' We are the Knight, sent to help you back to the path."

"Sent by whom?"

"You," they both say simultaneously.

What…?! By me? That makes no sense.

Unless…

"You're not really here, are you?"

Genesis smiles and tilts his head, "Indeed, we are not."

"We are you asking questions about yourself," Angeal says.

"But why do you look like this?"

"Who were the two people you were the most likely to listen to?" Angeal asks, resting his hand on the SOLDIER longsword at his waist.

"You… and Genesis."

"Exactly, we pushed each other to be better, we praised each other on our successes and we helped and comforted each other when we failed."

Silence settles on us briefly.

Genesis begins again, holding up the dumbapple, "All of us seek something in life, a goal, a prize, a Gift of the Goddess," death, rain and LOVELESS allusions are the only certainties in my life, "What is your Gift?" He pauses, and throws out an arm, "if you would say the Promised Land, that bags the question; what, or indeed, where is your Promised Land?"

"And what are you willing to do to pursue your goal?" Angeal says. "Will you do anything? Even to the point of causing the suffering of others? You have demonstrated that you are willing to do this."

"I was insane."

"But that determination has always been within you. You are relentless, you made yourself remain alive in the Lifestream. That is no mean feat."

"What of Tifa?" Genesis asks.

"What of her?" I respond.

"Do you care about her?"

I catch a deep breath I taking in and hold it as that question filters through my mind. "You seem eager to gain her forgiveness. Why? Do you think that by attaining forgiveness from others that you will forgive yourself?"

I release and almost mutter, "Forgiveness is not something I have any right to claim or expect."

"Do you believe that you can atone for your crimes, and thus regain your honour?" Angeal asks

"I… don't know."

"Indeed," Genesis says stroking his chin, "Something that can almost be called the 'SOLDIER Conundrum', were we born monsters, or did we become them?"

"Then it all rest on which side of the line you fall," Angeal says. "One last thing, can men be monsters?"

The words begin to echo as my old friends being to walk away into a blinding light…


End file.
